Automatic safety appliance for pistols, &amp;c.



. J. TAMBOUR.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY APPLIANCE FOB. PISTOLS, 6m.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.16,1907.

939,1 1 1 Patented Nov. 2, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. TAMBOUR, AUTOMATIU SAFETY APPLIANCE FOB. PISTOLS, 6m.

APFLIOATION FILED OUT. 16,1907.

Patented Nov. 2, 1909.

a SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. TAMBOUR.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY APPLIANCE FOB. PISTOLS, 6w. I APPLICATION FILED 00'1.16,1907. I 939, 1 1 Y Patented Nov. 2, 1909 3 SHEETS-SHEET JOSEPHTAMBOUR, OF NANTERRE, NEAR PARIS, FRANCE.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR PISTOLS, &c.

Specification of Letters" Patent.

I Patented Nov. 2, 1909.

Application filed October 16, 1907. Serial No. 397,717;

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, J OSEPH TAMBOUR, subj ect of the Emperor of AustriaHungary,

residing at Nanterre, near Paris, France,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic SafetyAppliances for Pistols or the Like, of which the follow- 7 weapon isgripped for intentional firingor when the hammer is over-cocked, thesafety lever is pressed from the position in which it supports the searor hammer. To prevent the hammer from catching on the safety lever,should this not have been sufficiently pressed, the projection providedfor'engaging the sear may hold the latter; whenthe hammer is cockeduntil the safety lever or a projection thereon has been completely movedout of the path of the hammer or of a notch therein. In small arms theconstruction of which excludes the usual mechanism for bringing back thehammer, in order to prevent the hammer from remaining on the firing pinin the event of a misfire, in which case the safety lever would notprevent accidental firing, should the weapon be dropped or otherwiseshaken, the invention provides on the lower part of the hammer platecatch of such weapon a surface sloping toward the axis on which thehammer turns on which surface a claw on the main spring engages, so thatwhen the spring has been released it is raised a little to effect therecoil of the hammer.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention as applied toautomatic repeating pistols of the Mannlicher type.

Figures l-to 3 illustrate one form of the safety appliance mounted onthe left hand When the side of the pistol, Fig. 1 showing the weaponcocked and the safety lever in normal position; Fig. 2 showing thesafety lever .displaced by overcocking the hammer; Fig. 3 showing theposition of the parts directly after firing and Fig. 3 the position ofthe parts when the hammer has been half-cocked or in rebounded positionand the trigger released. Figs. at to 8 show a modification of thelocking appliance. In Fig. 4 the hammer is cocked, in Fig. 5 the safetylever has been moved by overcocking the hammer; in Fig. 6 the parts arein the position which they have directly after firing; in Fig. 7 theposition of the parts is that which they have after a misfire and inFig. 8 the position of the parts is that which they have when the hammerhas been released; Fig. 9 shows the right hand side of the pistol withthe recoil mechanism according to this invention; Fig. 10 is an enlargedview of the corresponding parts without recoil mechanism as they havehitherto been constructed, and Fig. 11 is a like view of the partsmodified according to the invention.

The safety device consists of a lever 0 turning on a pin a and subjectto the pressure of a spring 6. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 3a projection f on this lever supports the sear c When the hammer iscocked, as shown in Fig. 1, and supports the hammer by a projection 9taking into a notch 72. when the hammer is in the normal position, asshown in Fig. 3 In the hammer plate there is a notch 71 at such adistance from the notch it that when the trigger is released, Fig. 3 thehammer is caught simultaneously by the engagement of the safety lever inits normal position in the notch h, and by the sear in the notch 2'.Thus, even though the weapon be gripped and the safety lever be ressedinward, the hammer cannot strike t e firing pin. When the hammer iscooked, the lever c engages with its projection f below the sear andsupports the latter at'the same time that the sear e engages in thenotch is. Thus not only is the sear prevented from being disengaged fromthe hammer by shaking, but the release of the sear from the cookingnotch in is only possible when the lever c has been brought out ofengagement with the sear which can be effected by the grip on the weaponwithout any separate grip. If the hammer is to be uncooked by hand (Fig.1 and dotted position Fig. 2), it is not necessary separately to operatethe lever c, that is to say the weapon need not be held ready forfiring; for by merely overcocking the hammer, as indicated in Fig. 2,the lever 0 is disengaged from the sear and thereupon the hammer can beuncooked after pulling the trigger. hen, in being uncocked the hammerhas moved part of its way forward, the lever 0 is free to move backagain under the action of the spring into its normal position, so thatshould the uncooked hammer slip from the thumb it will be cocked by theengagement of the lever 0 in the notch h and accidental firing cannotoccur.

In the construction shown in Figs. t to 8, safety lever c has a head mand a projection 02, the lower end of the sear e lying between this headand projection when the hammer is cocked; in this position the sear isheld fast and the trigger is therefore locked. The projection n is sohigh that the trigger can only be actuated when the projection g on thelever c is removed from the path of the safety notch 72, in the hammer,that is to say when the safety lever has been completely pressed inward.hen the hammer is overcocked, Fig. 5, the safety lever 0 as in theformer construction, is displaced, so that the sear can be operated bymoving the trigger. When the weapon is gripped for .intentional firingthe safety lever 0 is pressed inward, so that when the trigger is pulledthe sear is displaced, its lower end being able to pass over theprojection n, Fig. 6. Should there be a misfire, Fig. 7, the hammer d iscocked by the sear engaging in the notch i as soon as the trigger hasbeen released.

hen the hammer is released from the cocking notch the lower end of thesear rests against the outside of the projection n, Fig. 8, and thelever c is locked, since its projection 9 is engaged in the notch h, sothat it cannot be pressed inward. On cocking the hammer, the sear andthe safety lever are returned to their normal positions.

The mechanism for bringing back the hammer on the right hand side of theweapon, Figs. 9 to 11, is to prevent the hammerremaining on the firingpin should there be a mis-fire, and thus cause the weapon to fire whenshaken. For this purpose the main spring 0 has a claw p which engages inthe catch 9 in the right hand hammer plate which can turn on the bolt 8.At the lower end of the catch 9 is an inclined surface t which is nearerto the axis of the hammer at its upper end than at its lower end. Inconsequence of this, as the hammer springs forward at the last portionof its motion, the spring 0 is slightly raised as shown in dotted linesFig. 11, as the surface t acts as an inclined plane, along which theclaw 1) slides upward; as the spring returns the claw 7) slides downwardalong the surface If, so that the parts take up the position shown infull lines in Fig. 11, in which position the opposite side of the hammerplate can come in engagement with the scar and the safety lever. Inweapons in which a tumbler cooperates with the main spring, the samearrangement can obviously be used in the corresponding catch of thetumbler.

Claims.

1. In an automatic safety appliance for pistols and the like, thecombination with a sear, of a hammer having a shoulder, aspring-actuated safety lever having projections to engage the sear andhammer shoulder, the scar and hammer being free from said projectionseither by the act of gripping the weapon for intentional firing or byovercocking the hammer, a direct pull on the hammer causing the shoulderof the latter to engage and actuate the safety lever to release thesear, leaving the lever free to return to normal position during thefall of the hammer to arrest the latter before it reaches the firingpin.

2. In an automatic safety appliance for pistols or the like, thecombination of a scar, a trigger, a hammer having a hammer plateprovided with notches, and a spring-actuated safety lever havingprojections to engage the sear and the notches of the hammer plate, thenotches being so positioned that when the trigger is released and thecocked hammer has been let down, the hammer is supported simultaneouslyby the sear and the safety lever when the latter is in its normalposition.

3. In an automatic safety appliance for pistols and the like, thecombination of a sear, a hammer having a hammer plate with notchestherein, one of said notches being a cocking notch, and a safety leverhaving projections to engage the scar and hammer plate, one of theprojections engaging the sear when the hammer is cocked until theremaining projection is disengaged from the hammer plate, a direct pullon the hammer causing a part of the latter to engage and actuate thesafety lever to release the sear and freeing said lever for return tonormal position during the fall of the hammer to arrest the latterbefore it reaches the firing pin.

4. In an automatic safety appliance for pistols or the like, thecombination with a sear and hammer, of a spring-actuated safety leverhaving projections to engage the sear and hammer, a hammer plate havingcatch means, and a main spring having an inclined surface and aclaw-shaped part whereby as the hammer moves forward the spring is myhand in presence of two subscribing raised and shcles backwardly on thesurface Witnesses.

of the catch to bring back the hammer to half-cocked position, in orderto permit en- JOSEPH TAMBOUR' 5 gagement therewith of the sear and theVitnesses:

safety lever. J OSEF RUBASCH,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set ROBERT V. HEINGARTNER.

